The New Millennium
2006 Irvine Ranch Open Space Becomes a National Natural Landmark
JUNE 2006 Jeffrey Open Space Trail Opens
JULY 1999 Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Closes In 1993, the federal government
AUGUST 2005 Dedication of the Great Park
decided to close the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The announcement was part of a national effort to streamline military operations, reduce costs, and address national security readiness. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission indicated all operations from El Toro would be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. El Toro was a part of the surrounding communities for nearly fifty years, but residential growth made expanding the base impossible. The public would miss the annual air shows staged at the base. It had also been a point of patriotic pride knowing that people like astronaut John Glenn and baseball star Ted Williams served there. As the major West Coast jet fighter facility for fifty years, El Toro supported U.S. military efforts in World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. The station officially closed on July 2, 1999. SEE FIGURE 79 DECEMBER 1999 Vladimir Putin Takes Power in Russia In 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. That year, former KGB intelligence officer Vladimir Putin became prime minister. Voters elected him president three months later. The collapse of the Soviet Union prompted a brief period of political quietude, but Putin’s rise to leadership introduced an increasingly hostile and authoritarian government in the country. He exerted political influence and pressure on many of the Baltic states that had previously been part of the Soviet Union. He proved willing to use military force against his neighbors when he invaded Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. Putin exerted intense control over domestic media and quickly gained an international reputation for using violence to intimidate or remove political opponents. His ascent to power echoed earlier twentieth century expansionist conflicts. Russia entered the new millennium with a goal of restoring its influence in international affairs.
AUGUST 2005 Hurricane Katrina
2002 SARS Outbreak
Figure 79 . Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, 1993. Image courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense .
OCTOBER 2002 Irvine Global Village Festival Becomes an Annual Event
NOVEMBER 2000 First Crew Begins Living in International Space Station
OCTOBER 2001 Global War on Terrorism Begins
The International Space Station (ISS) represented an ambitious, cooperative undertaking among several nations. The United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the participating countries of the European Space Agency helped design and build the station during the 1980s and 1990s. The collaboration marked a distinct departure from the Cold War-era space race, where countries worked individually to develop aeronautics programs. Teams in different countries built sections of the ISS and launched them separately into space. The first crew— staffed by an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts—arrived in 2000. Since then, the ISS has been continuously occupied and has hosted crew members from eighteen nations. New components and experiments are developed on Earth and delivered to the space station. This cooperation has produced new launch and flight technologies, weather studies, and other scientific research projects. Throughout the course of its mission, management of the station has been able to transcend the quarrels of geopolitics.
SEPTEMBER 2001 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
NOVEMBER 2000 First Crew Begins Living in International Space Station
DECEMBER 1999 Vladimir Putin Takes Power in Russia
JULY 1999 Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Closes
THE NEW MILLENNIUM
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